Back Eddy -- was our night simply an off night?

After much anticipation built through word of mouth, we went to the Back Eddy the other night and were disappointed. The overall vibe was nice and unique in a good way, and the view as well, as advertised. However:

Food: Some reasonably creative preparations but uneven execution and over-priced for what we got. Oysters were very good. Stuffed clams too spicy, no way to identify any clam in the mix. My oven-roasted cod tasted a bit off and was a bit dried out, as though it was not that fresh to start with and had sat on under the heat lamp too long. Tomatoes in my companions salad were awful, much too ripe, past their prime. His pork tenderloin was (just) OK, better the accompanying wild mushroom bread pudding. Oddly, there was no regular bread to be had at any price, unfortunate since my cod sauce was perfect for mopping up. Corn bread was available a la carte. From what I had read about the focus on local foods, including cheeses, I expected a selection of local cheeses to be available -- that was wrong. Some of the wines by the glass were too sweet in their category or in one case a white seemed a bit off as well.

Service: My stuffed clam appetizer arrived ages after my companion's salad. He had time for a stroll along the dock. As mentioned, I don't think that our mains were picked up early enough, giving the cod time to cook under the heat lamp too long. All a bit out of kilter, although friendly.

We would go back, but it was a 3 out of 5, not the 4 or 5 we were expecting. Some Trip Advisor reviews are consistent with this. Was it just a bad night for them? What do others think? I really wanted to love the place.

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. I've never suffered a slew of kitchen missteps such as you describe. I went a few weeks ago, had a great meal. Never been anytime but during the day, so can't comment on dinner service, but it's usually packed. Still, I've always felt reasonably well cared for.

It's near the beach, so yeah, there's a price premium associated with that, but given the dearth of remotely decent places nearby, I pay that gladly. The deck is fantastic, but it can get painfully loud. I really like those stuffies.

You should send back an off-tasting wine. It's your job to know the relative sweetness or dryness of the wine you're ordering. If you're unsure, ask. Unless the menu's or server's description has drastically mischaracterized it, those kinds of surprises are not the restaurant's fault.

I haven't been to the Back Eddy in years, but re: wines that are too sweet..If they were, indeed, serving local wines, I find most of the Westport Vineyard (I think that's the name) wines to be way too sweet, no matter what their category, so I give them a wide berth, whenever possible.

I haven't been at all this past season but we've only gone for lunch for many years and have always had all-round perfect upscale beach food. I took a gander at the website and I see a bunch of non-local whites (NZ, France, and Oregon) that should be close to steely-dry. Westport Rivers has a beautiful pinot noir rose that I love and I see on the current Back Eddy winelist.

Thanks, glad to hear that lunch is better and that perhaps our experience was, indeed, an off night -- but check out Trip Advisor. Mmm. As I mentioned, I will definitely give the place another shot.

Agree that I have responsibility for knowing something about the wine I'm ordering, but I still think that a restaurant should never,ever serve an off wine, and in fact, the wine descriptions by our server were way off. Uncharacteristically, and perhaps unfairly, I didn't even look at the wine menu, just asked for a dry chard (French) or sauvigon blanc. The Chardonney tasted off and it was the sweetest sauvignon blanc I've ever had -- nothing mildly grassy or tangy about it.

And speaking of responsibilities, I don't like spicy sushi rolls either, think fish/seafood and too much spice don't necessarily marry well since the seafood or fish is so easily overwhelmed. So perhaps it was irresponsible of me to order the stuffies, knowing my preferences. I'm always hoping that someone finds the right balance (New Orleans, we miss you.)

unfortunately your experience was simply standard fare at the Back Eddy, you can give it another shot but your experience wont be any better..their menu, service, standards havnt changed in many many moons..I miss Moby Dicks

We've been there 4 times (3 dinner, 1 lunch) and never had a problem (we've never had wine, though). My sister and her husband have been there close to a dozen times (it's a little over an hour for all of us to get there), and have loved it every time.